Driver charged in deadly Las Vegas DUI hit-and-run flees country: ‘How is this individual not a flight risk?’

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A man accused of driving impaired and hitting and killing a veteran who was riding a motorcycle is missing and reportedly left the country, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.

Las Vegas Metro police arrested Iurie Trofim, 40, hours after the fatal crash on the Red Rock Loop. The collision killed Carson Heath, 55, a husband, father and Marine Corps veteran. Heath also has a large extended family.

The crash happened around 11 p.m. on Aug. 26, police said. Good Samaritans followed Trofim’s truck while he was driving on its rim, police said. He later ran off the road.

Prosecutors later charged Trofim with DUI resulting in death and reckless driving, among other charges, records said.

On. Aug 28, a pro tempore judge — a non-elected judge sitting in as a substitute – set Trofim’s bail at $10,000, records said. She also required him to wear an alcohol-monitoring bracelet and ordered him not to drive and stay out of trouble. It was unclear what amount prosecutors suggested during the hearing, though the 8 News Now Investigators have learned the amount was likely $100,000.

On Sept. 3, Trofim’s attorney appeared in court on his behalf and entered a not-guilty plea. At that point, prosecutors believe he was already 6,000 miles away. In court Tuesday, prosecutors said Trofim left the United States in late August for his home country of Moldova.

“We’ve been trying to locate him since last week when we found out that he’s no longer here,” prosecutor Yu Meng said in court.

Though a longtime Las Vegas resident, Trofim holds dual citizenship, prosecutors said. It was unclear Tuesday if the judge who set Trofim’s initial bail was aware of his dual citizenship.

“And we have no recourse to bring this person to judge — at all,” Heath’s cousin, Paula Donegan, said Tuesday.

Trofim paid a bail bondsman $1,500 to secure his release, records said. In the days after his arrest and subsequent release, Trofim allegedly put his home up for sale and returned to Moldova, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.

“How is this individual not a flight risk in the eyes of any judge?” Donegan said. “And for someone to come up with $1,500 out of pocket is absurd. It’s ridiculous and this is the problem with our judicial system.”

The alcohol-monitoring bracelet a judge ordered Trofim to wear last pinged at Los Angeles International Airport on Aug. 31, prosecutors said. It reportedly was not GPS enabled and was not actively tracking Trofim as other electronic-monitoring bracelets would.

“Not only did we lose Carson, but we continue to be victimized by these low bails,” Donegan said.

Bail is ultimately up to a judge’s discretion. According to a recent Nevada Supreme Court ruling, judges must weigh a defendant’s ties to the community and their ability to pay bail if and when required. A Clark County standard bail schedule implemented in 2020 has no suggested amount for DUIs resulting in death.

Heath’s family said his accused killer’s alleged actions of leaving the scene of the deadly crash was enough evidence itself.

“I don’t think any amount of bail would have been worth Carson’s life,” Donegan said.

Heath would have celebrated his 25^th wedding anniversary in the weeks after this death, his family said.

Las Vegas Justice Court Judge Joe Bonaventure issued a bench warrant for Trofim’s arrest on Tuesday.

The United States has no extradition treaty with Moldova. Instead, authorities there handle international requests on a case-by-case basis as “the Moldovan constitution does not permit extradition of its nationals,” a U.S. State Department document said.

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